No one can harass a person who wants to come into formal economy through GST, Irani said at a seminar on ‘GST – a Tool for Inclusive Growth’ organised in Ahmedabad last week. She assured the traders and businessmen that past transactions would not to be checked under the GST. “There will be no punishment for being honest,” she added.

The minister said if government agencies or officers ask about past transactions or harasses anyone, direct action will be taken against them. She asked traders and business persons to draw attention of MPs and Central ministries, if any such incidents occur.

She said that GST is not just ‘Good and Simple Tax’ but it also a ‘great step towards transparency’. “Beauty of the GST is it is a destination tax and it gives money back through tax credit,” she added.

The minister said that no one wants to be a tax evader, if the system is transparent and simple. “Government has taken a number of pro poor steps in its three years, to make system more transparent and simpler through Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Direct Benefit Transfer etc and GST is also a part of this,” she added. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India